Bookstore owner uncovers 318-year-old Bible in retirement home library

INDIANOLA, Iowa (CBS Newspath/KCCI/WKRC) - A lucky find in the back of a retirement home has made one bookstore owner very blessed.

"I started looking into it and I fell into a rabbit hole," said Kathy Magruder.

Magruder discovered the dust-covered, leather-bound manuscript in the back of a local retirement home library. She said from the first moment she saw the book she knew it was special.

"[There is] just something about it, the pages, they make a noise when you turn them. They feel a little different and the book smells a little different than any other book. That's when I knew it was probably worth looking into more," said Magruder.

But her hunch wasn't enough, she wanted to prove that it was really worth something. Finally, after hours of inspecting the text and searching the internet, Magruder got some long-awaited answers.

" I knew exactly where this book was at a particular time, in a particular place, and I knew who owned it, which was pretty exciting. You don't find that very often," said Magruder.

The book is a Scottish Bible and it was printed in 1705, 318 years ago.

Her current suspicion is that the book was produced illegally. At the time, this would have been a crime punishable by death.

On top of everything she had originally learned, Magruder was able to find the name of the family that originally owned.

"When I found the names in a genealogy, you could probably hear me yell out in front of the store," said Magruder.

Now, there is only one question left. How did the book end up here?

The nursing home the book was found in has no records of the book or of who donated it, leaving Magruder with a dead end for now.

"I'm working on it, but I'm just having so much fun with the research," said Magruder.

From Selkirkshire, Scotland, all the way to Iowa, this Bible has managed to survive centuries and a journey across continents.